Show conference IN NEW ZEALAND hawkes hawkers bay new zealand may ath 1897 it is some time since anything was written to the NEWS from this part or of the australian mission since the beginning of the year we have had nine new baptisms blessed tour four children and performed five marriages marria gesa a I 1 of which goes to show that the good work is progressing im during the month of march we had a genuine treat for it was then that our semiannual semi annual district conference was held at mahan Ma hanga a convening on the irth our president elder E F richards accompanied compa nied by the secretary W C castleton arrived in the district the monday previous to the commencement of conference and were met by the district president elder J C allen alien and traveling elder G L andrus the following day all rode to the only branch we have situated on the mahia pen nisula where they found one of our good maori saints very sick and weak she being under the influence of the adversary they anointed her with oil and after several administrations succeeded in rebuking the evil spirit A meeting was held that night and all present seemed to acknowledge the hand of god in the healing the next day all with the exception of brother andrus who was left at wai ahara wh araas as our good sister who was healed was yet very weak continued on to nuhaka here they were given a hearty welcome by elder J N lambert and saints of that place there is the old home and a good one too of brother chirini who is now located in zion after having supper we went to the meeting house where elder richards spoke for some length that day and the follow following ift we feasted on watermelons water melons which were given to us by the natives boyish like we all tried to see who could eat the most but none could beat elder castleton he e even n got ot fat on watermelons water melons while in the aag mahia a tv on thursday we rode to and in the evening we held a wen well attended meeting elders richards and castleton were the speakers the people listened with interest and seemed well paid for coming to meeting friday morning we were up early getting ready to goto macanga Ma hanga atter taking a good breakfast at sister katie smiths place we started outa out arriving at macanga about 4 p m mi where we again met brother andrus also a very jar large e crowd of saints sainta and outsiders w who bag had gathered there for conference shortly after our arrival elders J E of huranga Tu ranga and J A M jacob sen of put in their appearance which now swelled our elders ranks to seven at xo io a m on saturday march our acon conference terence began ow our district president presided elder allen alien presiding that and the day following were ones to be remembered by the saints of the mahia on sunday the irth we had four bap timms and confirmations preformed two marriages ordained one man to the priesthood administered the sacrament and also administered to a number of persons who were sick some wiro were healed instantly as was testified to in the closing meeting by the father of a child that was brought tp to us to anoint the little one while we were administer ing ing 19 it seemed to td be brea breathing ill hi its last but as soon as the adm inist was VMS performed it regained its strath abc atc b bi in i the closing testimony mee meeting tint held e eld on 06 sunday evening man many 8 strong testimonies were borne to the truthfulness a ness of the gospel and the power of god A rich outpouring of the holy spirit was enjoyed throughout the entire gathering some persons were present and Nga wala at whose place the conference arence was held did his utmost to make everything a success our conference ended all elders left the he following morning on horseback leaded headed for the general conference to be held in the waira rapa district some miles away the trip was uneventful with the exception that we got caught in one of new zealanda Zea lands heavy rain storms which can only be appreciated by those who have been there themselves at conference elder allen alien was released to return home elder andrus appointed to labor in another district while elder charles J peterson was appointed to labor in this district as my companion we returned to our district on the irth of april and since then we have been busily engaged in our labs labors the NEWS comes regularly to hand J N lambert |